On paper - power and torque is not the greatest. Most people have not benchmarked their RX8 on a racetrack. You'd be surprized how well our torqueless wonder motor goes around a circuit. We may lose some ground on the straights and exiting from a low speed corner is not it's forte. Under brakes, corner entry, stability and mid corner speed is not bad at all. People who have tracked their RX8 know what I mean.

RX8 is slow to some... but if you can't drive an RX8 fast in its current configuration - how the hell are you gonna drive it fast with an extra 100HP? Learn to drive it fast now and hopefully you are more than ready when and if a second generation Renesis comes out. I love the Hmmmmm... can't see myself going back to a boing boing! Im having too much fun.

I agree, most people can only go fast in a straightline and drive automatic.

 

Nah, I was never bothered about the lesser power of the 8 before I got it, I had always love to be the underdog plus I know exactly what the 8 can do, it just requires a bit of momentum to be fast. We are totally on the same wavelength here, that's what I advise a friend as well but he insist that he should keep swapping cars with other friends until he find his so called ideal car then starts learning to drive fast. In the end he's stuck with 2 fast cars but an ultra slow driver. Sorry just have to vent, these pseudo racer makes me sick...

 

lol the s2000 isnt fast.. what are you guys talking about? the car doesnt have low end torque but picks up in the higher end RPMs.. EVERYONE knows that

 

So what does that make an RX-8 then?

 

not slow?

 

Err... let me try, a bit slower than S2000

 

I have an MT and it's acceleration is fine with me...I like to drive the car smoothly anyway... There will always be those Neon SRT-4 owner's that will tell you it's slow, and you'll tell them that neons are ugly...sounds like you'll be even in my book. All around, I'm amazed everyone doesn't own an RX-8, I love it.

 

Not a drag racer.

 

Care to point out to me what the factory "drag racer" cars are...

 

im gonna have to go ahead and assume hes talking about the Corvettes, Vipers, Mustangs, camaros, Trans ams, you know.. the Big powerfull muscle cars...taht are two heavy to corner real well (with the exception of the c5-c6 z06 vettes) thats just my guess on what he ment by it

 

I'd say what he meant by "drag racers" are uncompromising performance cars.

Example; a SRT4 seems like a practical sedan, but its boomey exhaust, rock hard suspension, confining seats, torque steer, etc. all mounted on an econobox platform makes for a poor everyday car. Many others are similarly bad.

Kinda like when I take my sportbike on a long trip or even just to work, it really sucks doing this.

I've driven my 8 as long as 12 hours in a row. At hour 12 I'm every bit as refreshed as my last Passat. It's a great "do it all" type of car, and also rewards as a performance car.

This is much more important than boy racer stats.

 

Wheel torque moves cars. Having a lot of engine torque is advantageous anytime that you can't (or don't want to) drive at high RPM. But for any given vehicle speed you make more wheel torque if you make more engine power (regardless of engine torque).

Many people probably don't think of it that way because wheel torque in any fixed gear is proportional to engine torque. So unless the vehicle has a CVT, changes in engine torque are especially noticeable to the driver. However, it is engine power that determines how your car should be geared and what gear you should be in.

 

Heres my theory as to why it is considered slow:

The RX-8 has a low torque-to-weight ratio which makes it accelerate slower:

a. on the street, off the line than a lot of cars out there (including the Mazda 3 as we saw on the video)

b. on a track, out of a curve.

The BMI video against the the JDM-spec S2000, G35 and WRX. (RSX?)

 

Yeap, they commented the lower gear in the Integra yields more torque thus was easily passing the 8 and the weight too.

 

^^^

Interesting yiksing. I didnt remeber that part about the gearing.

Real problem is, I think, the Sports coupé status of the 8. I still cant get over the fact some econoboxes are slightly quicker.

Now, if I could just force feed the 8 eventually...

Anyways, even IF the concensus is that the RX-8 is slow, I still like it and am looking forward to getting one.

 

Power-to-weight ratio is what determines acceleration. Keep in mind that you can't go by just peak power since you don't make that except at a specific RPM. Read my post right above yours. Having written that, I agree with you to a certain extent; low engine torque usually means a vehicle isn't going to push you in your seat off the line.

This is nothing new... some sports cars have been slower than econoboxes for years (off the top of my head, the Miata, MR2, and even some Z3s).

 

i believe he is refering to this video
http://www.youtube.com/player.swf?video_id=daQplTz1i4w
RX8's corner exit speed and lack of acceleration was its downfall during this race.